The Small Things
by Valieara
Summary: Just a small friendship piece in which a slightly miffed John takes Elizabeth up on her never explicitly talked of importance in the political arena on Earth.


**Disclaimer:** I own nothing; for fun, not profit; etc.

**Setting/Spoilers: **Early season two, as this is my happy place in this particular fandom. No spoilers specific to a singular episode.

**Notes:** One, I haven't quite gotten over my intense Elizabeth crush; two, I really wanted to see happy Elizabeth as opposed to nanite infected/angsty/not-Elizabeth; and three, while I imagine Sheppard likely knew Elizabeth was pretty important on Earth, I doubt he knew the full scale as described in _Lost City_ of_ SG:1_. It always made me slightly sad that we never came back to that in _Atlantis._ I am not a poly-sci buff, though I have an interest in the subject, so feel free to point out any errors I have made. I'm sure they're there.

oOo

"How come you never told me you were so important back on Earth?" John demands, barging into her office.

Elizabeth blinks, her hands still hovering over her keyboard. "Importance is subjective, but in any case I'd assumed you knew."

He sits and promptly slouches in the chair opposite her. "Well, considering you gave me all of two days to decide if I was in or out, I didn't really have time to do my research. And personally I'd consider brokering treaties so secretive the guys stationed there at the time had no clue what was going on pretty important, but I don't know about you."

Her eyes narrow. "John Sheppard, have you been reading my file?"

He holds up his hands in a show of innocence. "Hey, Landry had to say something before I even started googling."

"Googling?" she asks, nodding in amusement.

"It's a word," he defends himself.

She nods again, allowing the grin to stretch out over her face. She imagines him typing in her name into a search bar in an internet café; and in many ways, it's almost too ridiculous.

"And we've known each other how long, now?" she asks, all crystalline ersatz delicacy, leaning back in her chair.

He scowls, as she predicted he would, and ignores her. "Considering I was in Bosnia at the time…"

She cocks her head. "You were?"

"All in my file, which, if I'm allowed to point out, is an unfair advantage you have over me."

Elizabeth sighs and sits back, smirking slightly. "You didn't think they went around appointing just anybody the head of the Atlantis expedition, did you, John?"

"Well, no," he says, frankly. "But I'd think that someone who essentially helped shape the other side of the world after the fall of the USSR – who, incidentally, I happen to count as a very close friend – would have let me in on these things so I wouldn't look like a complete idiot in front of my boss."

"Overlooking the fact that while you're in Atlantis, I am your boss, in the future, I'll be sure to amend that oversight," she replies with a brisk mischievousness.

John shakes his head. "Sometimes I have a hard time reconciling you to who your resume claims you are."

"And what does it claim?" she asks, genuinely wondering.

"Actually, it was more of what it left out," John acknowledges. "Dr. Jackson filled in the rest."

"First General Landry, now Dr. Jackson," Elizabeth teases. "I'm starting to feel popular."

He stares at her for a moment, and then shakes his head decisively. "Nope, definitely not the woman who negotiated the Dayton Agreements."

"Mmm," is all the reply she cares to give, still smiling. "Put it down to being glad of being alive. It's good to be back home."

It is almost strange to be home, in fact; and it is stranger still how everyone who decided to return unanimously began calling it such, without any fanfare or question, after nearly a year of praying to return to what, in their absence, had ceased to merit the title.

She'd been a silent influence during her time with the UN, name hovering unspoken in the shadows of the newspapers and televised reports of bombed wastelands. She supposes it would be startling, this information, if their roles were reversed.

"Does this really disturb you?" she asks.

"Well, next time, just don't leave something this big out," he suggests amicably, evading the question.

She knows him better than this by now, and though he's tilted his chin up innocently, nonchalance reigning supreme on his face, he's perturbed at the amount of power she'd once held on their now-provincial world. She ducks her head to conceal a smile she could have hidden if she'd needed to; but John is more indignant than hurt, so she goes along with it.

"Well, now you've discovered all my secrets: birthday, old job, social security number…"

"Alternate lives…" he adds.

"And I think that covers most of my bases," she concludes. "You?" she questions in turn.

He stands up with a smirk of his own. "You have my file," is his only reply as he walks out of the room.


End file.
